The full-fledged Evo VII will cost about 30,000 Pounds in the UK, according to this month's CAR Magazine. Would that translate to about $34,000 or $35,000 in the U.S.?

If that's the case, would you pay it? And not to sound practical or anything, but do you think it would hold its value or would you be killed by depreciation? Just curious to hear some opinions.

If you're interested in my opinion ... I'd like to order a silver one, please.

BTW, that issue of CAR has a great article comparing the Evo to the new M3. The author basically said they were even in power, but the Evo was clearly the better handler. In fact, he seemed to sum up the comparison by saying he liked the M3 better because the Evo handled TOO well and therefore might be less interesting. I'm not kidding.

 

I think £30,000 would be closer to $42,000 (US).

Would i pay that much, no.

The interesting thing about the UK that ive noticed is that they have a large tendancy to drop the $ off the front of a price tag, and add a £. Grossly inflating the price. For instance, a PS2 here in the states sells for $299, in Europe, it sells for £299.

There are a couple of people that are importing EVO-VII's over to the US for right around $30,000 US. And thats really right at the limit of debt i would be willing to go into for one. Anymore then $30,000 and id rather buy two cheaper econoboxs, and actually get some use out of them.

 

30,000 pounds, doesnt mean that it will be $45,000. If it comes it will be about the same in dollars and pounds.

Justin

 

The info I saw in Motortrend trend said $25,000. The RS in Japan = $21,000 US and the GSR = $25,000. So depending on what we get here in the US I am sure the EVO will be around $25,000 like they said. That would put it in direct competion with the WRX.

 

the full, real deal, non-waterered down (ala us-spec wrx), for just $25,000? that'd be nice, but i don't think it'll happen. more likely starting at just under $30,000. personally, i wouldn't pay more than $34,000 for it.

as for depreciation, almost all cars depreciate. the only ones that don't usually cost in the six digit range, and/or are produced in very low numbers, of which the evo is neither. only amongst folks like us would we realize the true value of an evo.

 

I think a spec Evo VII would run you about $30,000 if it came here. Nearly all cars loose value, some more than others. I think collectors cars are the only one's that go up in price. Try buying a 68 Ferrari GTO for what cost back in the day.

 

There is no reason the EVO would cost $30,000. The Lancer is going to go for about $15,000 and the OZ Rally about $17,000. There is no way the EVO option will cost another $13,000. Mitsu is trying to attract consumers to their sub compact cars and they know the cars wont sell well if they are priced at 30K. Look at the Eclipse. The GSX was about 27-29K and a sports car and not many people bought them. There are too many cars out there for 30K that an EVO would lose sales to. There are a few of us that want the 276HP AWD but thats not for everyone.

[ June 19, 2001: Message edited by: Racer X ]

 

Actually, if you look at the Evo, especially the VII, you will notce that there is really nothing in common between the Lancer econobox, and the full blown EVO model. The enginr is differnt, the chassisis differnt enough to not be the same, the body is built differently, the transmission is differnt, the interior is differnt...heck, i think every part of an EVO-VII is completely different from that of its base Lancer. So the extra cost of is more then reasonable.

Plus you have to look at import taxes, those will drive th price up as well. Not to mention excise taxes to be tacked on ontop of that.

Plus, the Evo is in a completely differnt price range, and model range fromt eh base lancer. And they can not be sold to the same person. The person that would be looking at the Lancer, would never consider an Evo, or know what to do with one if they had it. Its a pure drivers car.

 

Buck-O,

Can you tell me who import the EVO VII to USA for around $30K.

 

I agree with what you are saying but...
Look at the WRX. Why is that only 24K? Dont the taxes apply to that car as well?
I agree the Lancer and the EVO will be completely differnet cars but they still share the same overall look. Mitsu is calling the Lancer a subcompact car. People are going to think the same of the EVO but its just faster. We all know about this car but 99% of the rest of the country does not.
Mitsu also knows that 30k is a lot for a car and there are a lot of cars ot buy for 30k. You say the EVO is a drivers car and it is but what % of american will pay 30k for a "drivers car" not many. 99% of american looking to spend 30k will be looking at BMWs, IS300, CLKs, SUVs. But for 25k its more understandable to buy a car that has more performance then luxery.

 

jwooman: The Lancer RS for $29 http://www.bensrallypage.com/forsale/nims_lancer.html
And RS "II" with upgraded suspension, ATC, ACD, etc. http://www.bensrallypage.com/forsale/nims_lancer3.html for $39.

RacerX: there are a couple of things you need to take into consideration.
First is that the WRX is built off the exsisting Impreza chassis, and is a mass produced car that aleady has a 2.0L engine, and AWD to build off of.
Where as the Evo is a homologation special builtin limited numbers, for the purpose of rallying. SO the cost will be more.

Plus in tearms of performance the Evo GSR is better compaired to the STi version Impreza, and not to a bare bone WRX. If you want to try and comapre to the WRX in tearms of price and performance, compare it to the Lancer RS without the active diffs, without the AYC, and with smaller brakes, and a weaker suspension (basically make to be modified into a rally machine at low cost).
Look at a car like the Evo-6.5 TME. It will make an Impreza P1 look bad on the track.
So the extra price of the Evo is justified in its significant gain in performance over the WRX. And the fact that it is more of a limited production car then the WRX is, like i said, a Lancer compares more to an STi version, then a plain jane WRX. Similar overall looks doesnt mean anything...thats just a body panel thing...i can make a mirage look like an EVO if i wanted to. Doesnt mean they are even close to the same though.

Part of the marketing problem you are describing is becuase of the fact they are givng the Lancer a psuedo sport car type of label and using rally to sell it. I think tha tmost people will be able to look at a standared Lancer, and then look at the EVO-VII and be able to tell a VAST difference between the two. And one trip behind the wheel will definatly proove that.
THe price point isnt that big of an issue. People are buying the IS300 for performance as well as luxury. One of the biggest gripes has been the lack of the 3S-GTE and manual transmission, that will be comingnext year. BMW is very performance oriented as well, if they wherent, and they didnt have a market for it, then they wouldent release any thing from M\\\. Same with the CLK, yeah, its got wood trim and leather and all that...but it can sakt to 60 in 5 seconeds. Plus your talking about cars WELL over 30,000 here too.

Going back to what i said earlier, if Subaru comes out with the STi version of the new WRX over here in the US, you can be sure it wont be $24k, and will probibly be over $30k. And as i said the Evo-VII GSR is easily on par with the performance of the STi. So you really need to looka t the big picture in tearms of the cars performance, and building before you try and compare it. Really comparing an Evo-VII GSR to a USDM WRX is like comparing an MY01 Integra Type-R to a MY01 Celica GT. They are the same, but vastly differnt.

 

Well said. Here's my take on the "limited quantities" part. Subaru is producing 10,000 WRXs for the USA in MY'02. Mitsu is increasing production almost 50% just to get to perhaps 10,000 Evo VIIs worldwide, with most of those staying in Japan. In other words, when the Evo comes here, we'll probably be looking at 500-1,000 units, and there are enough enthusiasts here to sell that many at $30,000 or so without any advertising.

The difference between the WRX and the Evo or STI in the US is that SOA is looking to make money selling the WRX here. The Evo and STI will be offered in very limited quantities and will be more of a marketing tool to improve the image of the make in this country (ie., they'll be used to sell more of the company's other cars here). Otherwise, it wouldn't be worth the hassle of bringing the car here for just a few million in profit from Evo/STI sales.

 

I still disagree The Lancer is now a world car. I think Mitsu is going to be mass producing the EVO as well. Not sure if I mentioned this before but in MotorTrend there was a small article that talked about the EVO. It talked about the bumper/intercooler problem and that mitsu said they were going to price it at $25,000. But we will not know until it comes here....if it does come here (but it will )

 

Well, you can disagree if you want.

The performance numbers dont lie. The Evo is a better performing car then the WRX.

Reguardless of weither the Lancer is a world name or not. The Evo is still a limited number homologation special. And has always been made in limited numbers, and has always only been avliable as a black or grey market car around the world (with the exception of AU, JAP, and NZ). WHy they would change this, doesnt make sence.

Plus as i said before, if Subaru releases the STi version, it wont be for under 30,000, and it wont be able to compete on performance with teh Evo-VII GSR.

To say that people wont buy it becuase they dont know what it is, is a load of crap, and you know it.

Why did you buy a WRX? How do you know what a Subaru WRX even is? Why is it that SOA is pratically sold of of WRX's? People know what the cars are, and any one that laims to be a prformance enthousiast will know what it is. And will definatly want one. Especially if it will walk all over a WRX, which it will. So marketing isnt going ot be a problem. And when you consider that Mitsu has a far deaper rally heritage then Subaru does...they can use that as an advantage in marketing.

MotorTrend knows two things about the JDM market. Jack, and Squat. And Jack has a tendancy of being a little flaky at times. I wouldent put a grain of salt on their price point, and on their proclaimed release dates. Im sure the price will be between 25,000 and 30,000. Either way, if/when its released, subaru is gonna have to run for the hills because they know they are going up against a conender they cant compete with.

 

There is a guy selling fully street legal Evo7 for delivery in Nov/Dec for the price of $40k USD.

So, if you are willing to pay that much, you can get an Evo.